


Sweater Paws and Kitty Claws

by theflyjar



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Breeding, Cat/Human Hybrids, Catboys & Catgirls, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Half-Human, Hybrids, Lionboy Yixing, Lions, M/M, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mpreg, Shapeshifting, Smut, Taboo, Tigerboy Yifan, Tigers, Were-Creatures, Werebabies, Werecats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-24 15:12:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8376883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theflyjar/pseuds/theflyjar
Summary: Big cats were covetous, not as possessive as canines and lupine creatures, but they knew what was theirs and would fight to keep it that way. Yixing used his dark mane Lion aura to push tigresses into submission and Yifan used his large frame, intimidating gaze and deep, rumbling tiger's growl to keep talk of Yixing's suitors at bay. To anybody who didn't know them, they appeared like protective friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Soapbubblesoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soapbubblesoul/gifts), [cwtchbuddy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cwtchbuddy/gifts).



Tigers, being solitary creatures, usually kept to themselves in their own slightly introverted world, only coming together for small periods of time to get their full of social interaction. Lions, in their filial glory, had their Pride. These collections were often in clusters that spanned whole streets, one abnormally large Pride in America had a whole block as their territory.

It was a shock to see a tiger and a lion in one place, their demeanours and diverging social constructs made them too different. Yixing's Pride prowled through a handful of streets in a modern housing estate, their patriarch and matriarch taking the larger home at the far side and the rest scattered through as they pleased. Yifan, by contrast, lived solely with his mother in a large home on the outer edges of the city.

Their tall walled and fenced garden was a stark shift from the communal gardens Yixing shared with over thirty different people, Yifan's whole life thrived from independence where Yixing's was all codependency. They needed different things, when Yixing had a bad day he was in need of care and attention; when Yifan had one, he needed to be left alone.

There were so many contrasts, too many differences, that Yifan and Yixing shouldn't have fit. Their attitudes towards life were completely abstract from one another and yet, they found something rare in one another. Yixing didn't necessarily need his Pride when his day, or mood, took a dip. He needed Yifan with his tiger form's soft fur against his skin, his tongue swiping over his face and large paws on the ground with their claws out ready to attack anybody to tried to remove Yixing from his possession. Yifan, much like many others, was wrapped tightly around Yixing's finger. The lion had an unwavering ability to soothe Yifan when he was close to the edge. When they were cubs, it was the way Yixing would try to roar or would let Yifan try to catch his tail that lifted his mood. But, as years wore on, Yixing would let Yifan treat him like a mother would a cub, the younger adored when Yifan was angry and would take it out on Yixing by demanding that he must groom Yixing's ever growing, dark mane.

It was a strange relationship, their friendship with each other's understanding of wanting a group and craving solitude worked out. There were days when Yixing needed his large collection of friends to satisfy his more primally driven instincts and Yifan would shift to run for miles on end on his lonesome. They found each other easily after their separation, either Yixing shifted into his lion form and popped out from behind trees to have Yifan chase him. Or, Yifan appeared in his human form outside of where Yixing had been with his friends.

Their friendship remained strong, their cub forms built a bond because they played a little more roughly than the others. With Yixing having the genes of a black-maned lion, he was that little bit stronger and faster than his paler haired companions and Yifan was a Siberian tiger through and through. Sometimes their roughhousing actions went a little too far, as Yifan was always going to be more powerful, and they came away with numerous scrapes and scratches. They watched each other turn from chubby in their cub years, to their lean teens and up into their muscular adulthood. Yifan was constructed for speed, strength and precision and Yixing was all power.

While their similarities diverged early on, they both understood when their friendship shifted into something much more scandalous. Yixing, even in his alpha male state, loved being wrestled to the ground by his much stronger opponent and he wanted Yifan. The elder knew this when Yixing reveal his throat to him when the tiger was angry, the fast sign of submission made the tall feline preen with happiness. Yixing acted somewhat like a lioness would, it often drew gasps from people close by if they had caught the scene.

Yixing adored that Yifan's human form was larger than his own, it felt incredible to be towered over and made to feel a little smaller.

They were two alpha males of different stock, they should have clashed with one another. They should have been fighting to draw blood if the other stepped on their territory but their mothers had been friendly, not friends but more than acquaintances, and had raised them within relatively close proximity.

Like many male tigers, Yifan's father didn't stick around to raise him and Yixing's mother, the lioness who lived closest to Yifan's home, had thought the whole thing to be damaging. Tigers didn't mate for life, much like their wholly animal counterparts, but lions often did. Yixing's father, a lighter maned man, was a constant presence in Yixing's life. While their relationship always seemed a little strained to Yifan, Yixing was close to his father and the elder of the two lions was often heard boasting about Yixing's dark mane.

It had, however, been Yixing's mother who had suggested that Yifan should be raised with Yixing at his side. She had coaxed Yifan's mother into believing that a little companionship would help to ease both her own, and Yifan's, burdens. She was not wrong but she wasn't right either.

Yixing verged on burdensome on the nights when he would stroke teasingly at Yifan's human form tail and would have him rutting against Yixing's firm, muscular thigh until he came in his own underwear. Yifan knew that the two dominant males shouldn't have become that near to one another but when Yixing purred or mewed like a little kitten under the pressure of Yifan's lips and tongue on his neck, Yifan wanted to relinquish himself to the lion.

It was tense whenever somebody brought up Yixing searching for a lioness to place his mark on, even more so whenever Yifan was in earshot. En plus, it wasn't much different when tigresses of any age propositioned Yifan.

Big cats were covetous, not as possessive as canines and lupine creatures, but they knew what was theirs and would fight to keep it that way. Yixing used his dark mane lion aura to push tigresses into submission and Yifan used his large frame, intimidating gaze and deep, rumbling tiger's growl to keep talk of Yixing's suitors at bay. To anybody who didn't know them, they appeared like protective friends.

To those who knew them best, it was impossible not to smell the scent of something taboo between them.

Their parents ignored it, they hoped it was selfish rebellion from the two young felines. Yixing's friends tolerated it, too scared to take on their two most powerful peers. Their neighbours shielded their children from it, the scent of hunger always warned the others that Yifan and Yixing weren't just being friendly with one another anymore.

That being said, they had never once had sex. They had teasingly touched until the other came, had kissed and had spent hours coating the other in their scent. Sex was too much for Yixing, he knew that and Yifan certainly did. For tigers, sex didn't mean so much. Lions, on the other hand, took the physical union of two creatures with the utmost seriousness.

Yixing wanted Yifan, the lion wanted that level of connection but he feared what Yifan wanted. Tigers didn't stay and even given the years of history, Yixing couldn't be sure that Yifan would in the future.

One night, the shift between them was plain as day. They'd spent hours in the sun, soaking in the rays in hopes of drawing in warmth and nothing had bothered them for the entire day. Their parents weren't searching them down. It was only Yixing and Yifan, a lion and tiger sprawled out with their tails entwined. And yet, when they arrived in Yixing's bedroom after having eaten, Yifan was different.

He held the younger tighter, his lips were sweeter and their bodies were wrapped around one another with the want to be closer than skin. It was the reverse of the normal clinging horniness that they both exuded. Yifan pushed him down to the mattress softly, his hands drifted and Yixing melted down to almost nothing. His fear of Yifan's commitment to him faded as the tiger's mouth drifted from his lips and ebbed down to his neck, the tiger was so self-assured as he undressed them both. His confidence spoke to Yixing's nervousness, it soothed it like they were whispering to one another in the dim light.

The lion yelped when the tiger, muscular and large, moved back away from him and Yifan laughed a little at the younger's startled expression. He drew the younger towards him again, bringing Yixing between his legs and confusion flooded through his body as the tiger purred up at him.

And just like that, Yixing knew. Yifan was laying everything out to the younger, he was shaking off every ounce of the personality given to him by his tiger instincts. Yixing kissed him then, gently and sweetly as they shifted awkwardly around the bed and Yifan let Yixing's fingers wander down to undiscovered realms.

Yixing had never expected for Yifan to relinquish some of his solitary dominance; he hadn't thought he would be the one to take Yifan. Despite his status, Yixing had always expected himself to be taken on their first time, yet that's not the way things unfolded. Yifan was expressing his devotion to Yixing through the seemingly simple act because he knew it meant everything to the lion. It was their defining moment of love against the odds of the world.

They came as teeth sunk into the skin on the left side of each other's necks, marks to brand them as one another's and Yixing felt everything Yifan did as they connected in a way that was rare for a tiger to think about experiencing. Loyalty, dedication, fidelity and love. Yixing knew the feelings radiating from his own half of the bond would have reflected the elder's but it was the intensity in which it was felt that sealed Yixing's entire heart.

 

❉❉❉

 

To use the word scandalous would have been an understatement when the pair emerged from their own little bubble and their marks, still red and raw, screamed out to the world that the two apparently dominant males had claimed one another during their absence from the sight of others. There wasn't a person who wasn't struck into stillness to see the strangely close tiger and lion flitting around each other like infatuated school children. Yifan's mother had almost fainted on the spot. Yixing's parents harboured a quiet kind of fury.

Still, there was a level of feeling untouchable as their hands entwined for everybody to see. No single person could erase the bites on their necks, they were permanent tattoos that ran right into the soul that bound them together in a way that couldn't be broken. Despite the anger, the pain, the scandal, nothing could be done to change what they'd done. It was permanent. It was public. It was ignominious. Nevertheless, neither of them cared.

Nothing bad could touch them.

 

❉❉❉

 

Yixing's voice purred through the trees, his hearing open and sensitive to hear if the tiger would approach him from the undergrowth, "Yifan."

The rustling he got in return was enough to make him smile, the larger than average tiger appearing betwixt some barky trunks and the furred creature chuffed air out of his nose happily in greeting. Yixing's fingers dug into his fur, delighting himself in the warmth there and basking in the way Yifan's head pushed lovingly against his legs, causing him to drop the backpack he was holding down to the ground.

"You've been laying in the sun, haven't you, Paws?" Yixing laughed out as he found areas of Yifan's fur were far hotter on one side compared to the other. "I don't understand how you're such a furnace all the time."

Yifan's responses weren't verbal, or even noises Yixing could decipher, but he knew that the grumbling sounds in the elder's feline chest were ones of affectionate annoyance. As if Yixing was judging him for how he had spent his day whilst the lion was off socialising with his own kind. It made Yixing laugh as the tiger circled around him with gentle licks and scenting nudges of his head.

Yixing stepped back, finding a tree behind himself and slipping down it until he was placed firmly on the ground with the large cat looming over him. The tiger tilted his furry head to the side and placed a few short welcoming licks to where his bite mark rested on Yixing's flesh, causing the lion to shudder with affection. Yixing's human form tail settled on his thigh, resting there and he saw how Yifan's eyes followed it until they came to the black hair covered tip that stood out in contrast to the sandy colour on the rest of Yixing's fur.

Whilst his markings weren't as striking a Yifan's, the tiger always complimented him on how wonderfully Yixing suited his colouring. He always made comments on how the golden parts represented his angelic qualities but the darker hair of his mane and tail tip showed the devious qualities of his character. They were Yixing's perfect mixture of somewhat innocent appearance and the darkness he kept only to show Yifan when he was feeling confident enough.

"You're such a handsome beast, Paws," the lion joked and another of Yifan's rumbles vibrated in his throat. However, the gentle purring noise he made told Yixing that he preened inwardly at the compliment.

As if by a natural reaction, Yixing's own body reacted to Yifan's noises and his purring was triggered by that of his mate's. Yifan's large paws went either side of Yixing's hips and he collapsed down onto the human's legs with a huff that rustled on Yixing's shirt hotly. The younger let out a shocked yelp as he took the most part of Yifan's weight on his legs, instantly whining about how heavy tigers were and Yixing could have sworn he heard a cat-like snicker leave Yifan's mouth.

They laid like that for over twenty minutes, Yixing was close to sleeping when Yifan's weight and warmth disappeared from his legs and the telltale noises of bones creaking and fur shifting to skin appeared. The lion leant over and unzipped the bag he had tossed to the ground upon his arrival, he pulled out a loose pair of shorts and a severely oversized sweater that he knew his mate loved. He tossed them over his head, smiling when he heard them hit Yifan's back that was most probably more sensitive from being in his animal form for so long.

"I hate it when you do that," a deep, human voice muttered but the two of them knew it was more than loud enough for Yixing to hear over the gentle noises of the world around them.

"You should be used to it by now, I have been doing it for a good handful of years now," was the smart retort Yixing supplied.

He had barely finished talking before hoody covered hands slipped around his waist and a nose ran up his hairline to draw in the scent he naturally released. A happy hum from Yifan's mouth made Yixing feel warm inside, it never failed to do so in all the times Yifan had completed the action.

"What are the plans for this evening, kitten?" Yifan's voice always sounded so much huskier after he'd shifted, the ripple effect it caused Yixing to feel was almost too much for the younger to handle as he pressed back against his mate's chest.

"I don't know, we could go out somewhere for food?" Yixing suggested and he was shocked when Yifan didn't reject the idea instantly. Which he always did when Yixing recommended doing anything where others would be.

Yifan's rumbling timbre had Yixing purring loudly as he spoke, "If that's what you want to do."

"Really?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?" Yifan turned Yixing around by his hips, forcing the younger to bend his neck to look up at him. "And don't you say that one time I told you the river was warm because we were ten and I didn't understand why lions didn't like swimming as much as tigers."

With the response taken from his mouth, Yixing couldn't do anything but shake his head, causing the purring between them to increase by a few decibels.

"We've been mated for six months, I think the shock has worn off and people don't care so much anymore," the elder reasoned simply, without being prompted. "You're social and I'm solitary, I can't expect you to always just be with me because I'm reluctant to do anything but be like what's expected of me. And, if I'm brutally honest, I get jealous of all the people you socialise with because I want to be there too."

"So, you want to be a lion?" Yixing teased, lightening the suddenly deeper mood and Yifan's arms tightened around him, lifting him from the forest floor and making Yixing squawk.

"I can't think of anything worse," Yifan laughed out as he began to haul Yixing over his shoulder. "If I was a lion, I wouldn't be able to drag you around like the little kitten you are."

"I'm not a kitten," Yixing yowled, his playful growling tremoring on Yifan's back.

"Why are you the size of one then?" It was a low blow, Yifan knew Yixing wanted to be taller than he was and the younger instantly sunk his teeth into his mate's hip. Yifan's coo of, "Such cute nibbling from the cub," only served to rile him up further.

"You tigers are no good," Yixing huffed. "I should have listened to my father when he told me about your sort."

" _My sort?_ " Yifan scoffed, jolting Yixing towards the ground causing a giggle to erupt from the smaller's stomach and Yixing only laughed more when the tiger's hands began to tickle the backs of his knees. "You, Zhang Yixing, are a pain."

"It's a shame you're stuck with me, then," Yixing squealed out as he was dropped over Yifan's shoulder completely, his reflexes catching with enough time to easily break his fall. "That's what you get for mating a lion, a lifelong bond."

"Mated or not, I would be stuck with you forever anyway," Yifan looked over his shoulder, Yixing could see the smiles in his eyes and something that read, _'even if you didn't want me, I'll always be yours.'_ "I just feel bad you have to put up with me and _'my sort,'_ if it's really that difficult for you."

Yixing didn't respond but closed the distance between himself and his mate, rubbing his cheek gently on his shoulder and Yifan's finger's scratched at Yixing's rounded lion ears.

"Thank you," Yifan suddenly whispered over the wind gently blowing the autumn leaves, "for believing and trusting that I won't leave you."

"Like you said before, you've never really lied to me in the past," Yixing hummed softly. "You're the most important person to me."

"Maybe one day we can have other important people around, maybe ones even smaller than you," Yifan's voice trailed off but his purring only grew louder. Yixing felt his stomach drop down slightly and his own throat constricted to vibrate with happiness. 

"Are you trying to tell me in the least subtle way that you'd like cubs?"

"Who wouldn't want some with such a cutie kitten like you?" Yifan's smile was wide, probably far gummier than Yixing had ever seen before and that was more than enough to have him melting on the spot.

Yixing looked over his shoulder, checking if anybody else could be seen in the empty forest. "People wouldn't like that, they've only just stopped staring at me in the Pride for having your mark..."

"I don't mean right now," Yifan rubbed his thumb over Yixing's forehead affectionately. "In the future, when things have calmed down a lot more."

"But wouldn't that just cause more trouble...?"

"Little kitten, if you don't want cubs with me, we won't have them," Yifan stepped closer, drawing the lion in by the waist and leaning down to kiss the side of the shorter's mouth. "It's okay. You're more than enough for me, you are an endless supply of my joy."

Yixing couldn't help the colour that rushed to his cheeks, his purrs gave his contentment away and Yifan nuzzled into the part of Yixing's throat that could be seen to tremor with satisfaction.

"I do want them," the younger confessed and Yifan's lips pressed to his collarbones through his shirt. "Do you remember when we were in school and I had that talk with the other lions about raising cubs? All I could think about was having some with you."

"Kitten," Yifan hummed against his neck as he moved back up to kiss at his jaw, Yixing's hands on his shoulders and their chests completely flush together, "you're such a perfect creature."

"Stop calling me kitten, I don't like it," Yixing whined as Yifan straightened his back, however, the noises emanating from Yixing's throat gave away just how weak he was for the pet name. It was something he outwardly hated, but inwardly it softened up in his stomach. He adored how small and loved it made him feel by the taller, larger feline he had mated with.

"You are a cute kitten, though."

Yixing scoffed and groaned, still Yifan smiled and still the younger purred like he really was a house cat.

"Anyway," he switched conversations, "how much do you think our parents would want to kill us if we did have cubs?"

Yifan didn't reply at first, he let out a short hum and took Yixing's hand in his own to lead him back out the forest, "It depends on how we'd have them."

 

❉❉❉

 

Yixing had his legs dangling from the kitchen counter, his tail was wrapped around his thigh and his eyes couldn't help but stare at the way Yifan's tail swished behind him as he got Yixing's favourite cereal out from the top shelf of a high cupboard. He had always expected to grow out of the urges to catch tails when he got older, and he had, for the most part. There was just something about Yifan's that made his pupils go wide and the coil in his stomach tighten to pounce.

"Milk?" Yifan queried.

Yixing didn't even have to say a single thing back for Yifan to automatically head over to the refrigerator and get the milk out, he filled the bowl with Yixing's breakfast and took it over to the younger with a grin. The lion took the bowl and scooped the food into his mouth with fast spoonfuls, his eyes still never straying from Yifan's fluffy appendage as it swung from side to side.

"Can you stop that?" Yixing whined, nudging Yifan with his feet.

Yifan shrugged easily, "I can't help it, kitten."

"It's distracting me from eating my breakfast."

"Don't look at it then. Simple," Yifan's response was snorted, a shuddering in his nose and Yixing huffed out, deflating around his filling stomach.

For the rest of his meal, Yixing pouted and refused to look at his mate in petulance. He failed whenever he caught sight of the orange striped tail moving naturally behind its owner's back as he cleared away everything that was on the draining board next to the sink. He didn't like not looking at Yifan when they were in the same room. It was like his brain and body always wanted to have his mate in sight or within touching distance.

"Come here," Yixing caught his foot around Yifan's thigh, halting his steps towards the other side of the kitchen. He clasped around the tiger's tail, smiling at how his ears turned towards Yixing before his face did and he obediently made his way between the younger's legs.

"Your tail drives me insane," he huffed out, keeping hold of the appendage in his hand. "You move it too much."

"It does it on its own," the elder shuffled forward as Yixing clamped his legs firmly around Yifan's hips to stop him from moving away. "I don't move it on purpose."

"I know but it's so...mesmerising."

"Maybe you should call me tails instead of Paws then?" Yifan suggested and Yixing shook his head, touching Yifan's hand that rested on the counter next to Yixing in a quick brush.

"But your paws are cute, so tufty," the lion cooed. "Your human paws are handsome, too."

Yifan smiled and Yixing felt his brain evaporate at the sight, he rose upwards with a straighter spine and took Yifan's lips between his own.

Every time they kissed, their bond made it feel so much more intense than it ever had been when they were younger, it was a gentle movement that had Yixing's entire soul leaving his body to flow into Yifan's. The tiger's hands moved up from the granite counter to grip on Yixing's hips, pulling the younger closer to the edge for their bodies to be as close as they could be.

There was nothing but love in the kiss, their mouths moulding and fitting together like the pair were made for one another. Yixing could feel Yifan's tail straining in his hand, the muscles twitching to be able to sway it from side to side in an expression of his happiness. His purring, however, had to suffice with how loud he was being. The echoing vibration from both of their throats rumbled like thunder against the four walls.

Yixing could have continued tasting and licking the inside of his mate's mouth for hours without tiring or feeling the urge to stop, that wish wasn't fulfilled when the muted clicking of the door filtered through their connection. The lion was reluctant to let go of the tiger. A short gasp was what had the elder recoiling from Yixing and the growl that escaped Yixing was instinctive.

"Yixing," he could feel the scolding tone in his mother's voice, "don't growl in the house."

Yifan leant away from Yixing, hiding his face away from the frown that was surely directed at him and the lion whined at the feeling of his mate moving further from him. His clutch on the tiger's tail grew tighter, so much so he could feel the warning look from his taller mate.

"Let go of his tail. Don't be so vulgar in public areas of the house."

"I'm just stopping it from moving, I'm not trying to do anything intimate." He didn't want to let go of his mate.

"That doesn't matter, it makes me uncomfortable to see it," Yixing looked at his mother over Yifan's shoulder and her face showed masked disgust towards her son's actions. "We let you do whatever you want in your room because it's out of sight, don't show us any more of it. If you want to do whatever you want. wherever you please, then do it somewhere else."

She huffed, her pale golden ears flicking around and her tail whipped around as she turned on her heels to leave the room.

"Maybe I should go home," Yifan whispered when they heard Yixing's mother's feet disappear up the stairs. "I know being here makes your parents discomfited. I'm the one they think ruined their perfect son."

Yixing wanted to argue back to his mate, he wished his parents were more welcoming to the tiger, like they were when they were cubs, but Yifan's presence in the house was an unspoken reminder of the fact their child had such a frowned upon relationship. The two older lions didn't take well to Yixing's mating with Yifan—their pride and joy who could have had any lioness he wished chose another dominant as his mate, one of another species at that. Two male dominants weren't supposed to be together, it was something they'd always been reminded of.

"I don't want you to go," Yixing felt clingy, his instincts told him to bring Yifan closer whenever Yixing's parents had knocked his confidence. "I want you here."

"Yixing, this might be your home but it isn't your house, your parents don't want me here. I shouldn't be here, kitten."

Yixing pouted and Yifan kissed it away as best he could without engaging like they had before. He was always so kind and gentle to Yixing, it warmed his heart to see how much his mate cared for him.

"I wish we had somewhere of our own, I don't like it when we sleep apart. I get nightmares without you, Paws."

"I know you do, kitten," Yifan nodded, nuzzling into the fluffy edges of Yixing's ears.

"Maybe we should do that?" Yixing queried. "You know, get our own place."

Yifan was quiet, he wasn't purring nor was he recoiling away from the lion. It made Yixing feel nervous, slightly more on edge than he ever thought he could be when it came to anything to do with their relationship. His mind always produced images of Yifan lounging in a cosily decorated bedroom in his tiger form, maybe laying on the floor in front of a large open window to soak in the sun.

"Maybe somewhere with a few bedrooms for when we...um..." Yixing couldn't stop himself from trailing off as he blushed to a sunset shade of red.

The tiger still didn't speak but his hands took Yixing's jaw within them and their eyes met in a serious and intense moment. There were so many emotions swirling around Yifan. None of them were negative but the nerves in Yixing's stomach were churning his breakfast around. It was like the moment they had bonded, Yixing could feel Yifan's affection flowing through him but disbelief was surrounding them.

"You want that?" The tiger's voice cracked, his eyes dark and loving. "You want that, with _me_?"

"I wouldn't have anybody else," Yixing leant forward to press his forehead against Yifan's. "How could I not want everything with you?"

 

❉❉❉

 

They were children when they first kissed. It was childish and bracketed with giggles as their tails were held nervously in their hands. It didn't stop Yixing from wanting to move closer to the cute tiger he could call his best friend. They were teenagers when they kissed like they loved each other in each other's darkened bedrooms. It never felt like they shouldn't, so they always did.

Yixing could remember Yifan's face when he told him that any lion, male or female, could have cubs. The tiger was shocked, male tigers couldn't do such things and Yifan's nine-year-old hands had instantly gone to Yixing's stomach in wonder.

The lion had blushed when the tiger had pressed his furry ears to his stomach, childishly thinking Yixing actually had cubs in his stomach at that young age.

It had only taken three minutes for Yifan to burst into tears, hands still on Yixing's puppy fat covered stomach and his tail dangling limply by his legs. Yixing hadn't known why his best friend had cried, leaving him to helplessly say, _"Paws, what's wrong? Tell me, Paws?"_

Yifan had been hysterical, not uttering a word as he took Yixing in his arms and held the eight-year-old closer to him. Yixing had gone into shock, he didn't know how to make his tiger feel better. It took ten minutes before Yifan finally mustered the ability to tell Yixing that his heart was broken.

 _"You're having cubs in your tummy without me,"_ he had blubbered and Yixing remembered being frozen in his place. _"They aren't my cubs in your belly."_

Yixing had crawled onto Yifan's lap, wrapped his arms around his best friend's neck and leant against his chest.

 _"There aren't any babies in here, Paws,"_ he pouted, his own eyes watering to match his best friend's.

They should have known by the reactions of their mothers the next morning when Yifan had demanded to carry Yixing everywhere he could saying, _"I need to keep Yixing safe, so he can have our cubs when we're older,"_ that their relationship would always be a shock. Especially surrounding the subject of cubs.


	2. Final

Yixing could barely see Yifan amongst all the boxes, plastic and cardboard alike, as they piled high in the hallway of the narrow yet long apartment. It was on the third floor of a complex on the edge of the city, it was too close for Yifan's comfort and all they could afford without having a mortgage that they'd spend the rest of their lives working to pay off. It was large enough to have a small family in, but Yixing knew Yifan wanted a house. Yifan wanted a large garden, a house made solely for them, a permanent mark of theirs on the world. Yifan wanted a  _home_.

The lion too could feel a sense of disappointment, given that they needed a furnished apartment and none of the larger items in the apartment were their own. It wasn't quite _their_ space yet.

It was a little disheartening for Yixing to see how awkward Yifan was living in a building with others, the sounds of all their neighbours flowing under their front door, and the road outside blaring noisily in through the windows made him more uncomfortable than Yixing could have wanted for their first home. He wanted to see Yifan purring with his long tail waving happily from side to side, not hiding a grimace whenever a thunk from the floor above echoed around.

"It's okay to not like it," Yixing stepped towards his mate, reaching out his hands to take Yifan's in them, "it's our first place, we don't have to get our dream home on the first go. I know you don't want this and we'll find somewhere eventually, but stick with this until then."

"As long as I'm with you, I can live anywhere," Yifan's whisper was strained, as he tugged Yixing closer to his body. "Living like this probably makes you happy and we can't just live to appease me, you're the other half of this relationship and I'd follow you anywhere. If you wanted to live in a house with a hundred other people, I'd live there, without an ounce of resentment, purely to see you happy."

Yixing wanted to whine and call Yifan cheesy, he wanted to brush what he'd said off with a playful hit across the head but the way Yifan's thumb circled over the mark on Yixing's neck, the way his voice cracked with emotion and the intensity of his expression floored Yixing. There was no part of his body that didn't believe what Yifan had stated. He knew his mate would always have his head spinning out of control as they grew closer with each mated day they had together. The lion's eyes were misting, the weight of water in them daring to break over and Yixing tried to blink them away, only to force them out and dribble slowly down his face.

"Why do you have to make me cry like this?" He whimpered, crashing his head into the tiger's chest, listening to the way the heart under his ear beat harder the longer he stayed in that position. "I can't believe you made me cry. I was already happy then you had to go and say that to break my heart in the most loving way."

"I'll try to break your heart with happiness like that every day, if it means you'll feel even a fraction of my love for you."

Yixing playfully hit Yifan's shoulder, "Stop it, Paws. I don't want puffy eyes for when I meet our neighbours."

"I can't help it," Yifan's lips murmured almost soundlessly into Yixing's hair, "because you make me feel like I can do anything in the world and I want you to have that feeling too."

Yixing's hands clasped tightly in Yifan's shirt, being with Yifan was like a euphoric comedown for the lion that sent him to the dizzying edge of sanity until everything he could feel, see and hear was his mate. The smaller was shaking, trembling in the taller's arms and he was sure he'd not be able to stand on his own as he melted at the words. It wasn't even what was said that had him reacting like that, it was the mere fact that Yifan meant it with every fibre of his being.

"I love you," Yixing didn't know what else to say, all other phrases had left his brain but the sounds of Yifan's purring was more than enough to tell him that those words were everything he needed to hear. Yifan knew everything else, there was no question in Yixing's mind over that.

 

❉❉❉

 

Their second apartment was a lot like the first: too close to the city, too busy and clustered together on a packed street with so many other buildings that even Yixing struggled to think. The plus side was that it was far larger than the awkwardly shaped first apartment. It was closer to Yixing's Pride, too, which was a major positive for the younger. And, that also meant it was that little bit closer to the dense forest Yifan loved to prowl in.

It still wasn't enough to have them buying permanent furniture, given that there were already tables, cabinets, beds and other soft furnishings. The scents of the previous tenants lingered everywhere and Yixing felt the weighted gaze of their neighbours all the more heavily as they noted the marks on both his and Yifan's necks, not to mention that their scents had mingled so much that it was one dominant smell. The children stared with perplexed gazes when they caught sight of the lion and tiger couple parting ways to head to their respective jobs. Other couples recoiled from Yixing's friendly advances, especially when Yifan was around. It didn't help with Yifan adjusting to life living around others, it made him retreat into himself more until he gave up on making friends with Yixing altogether.

When Yixing explained the situation to his mother, she had sighed out an, _"I told you so,"_ that made Yixing frown until he crawled into a warm bed with his mate.

Yifan's mother was far more supportive, she had suggested that Yixing should invite some of his friends from the Pride to his apartment with Yifan. Or rather, the other lions that didn't seem to make Yifan feel as awkward as others. With the scent of others mixing with the merged one of the mated couple, people began to relax a little more. The younger tried to convince the elder that people refrained from greeting him because their scent was too dominant, not muted by anything more subtle but still, Yifan grew that little bit more insecure around others.

"It's okay," Yixing soothed as Yifan's ears flattened on his head when there was a knock on the door. "You go put the kettle on and I'll do the greeting, nothing bad will happen."

Deep down, though not as deep as he'd like it to be, Yixing had a fear that Yifan's instincts would push him to try to defend his own space. A territory that housed his most loved person. Yixing had known of tigers, especially males, fighting with others that encroached on their personal perimeter and whilst he knew that Yifan was neither violent or bitter, he'd never been in that situation.

And so when their closest neighbours entered their apartment dispersed between Yixing's Pride members, Yixing was on high alert whenever Yifan made any kind of jerky movement. The tiger remained polite and as social as he could muster under the pressure of wanting to make Yixing happy, it caused Yixing's heart flutter at how hard his mate was trying for him.

As time in the evening wore on, Yixing noted that Yifan had disappeared altogether from the main room all the socialising was happening in. Plainly assuming that Yifan had taken his leave without wanting to bother Yixing, the lion continued to get his fill of social interaction and found himself blossoming under the laughter of those around him. He would have liked to have had his mate at his side but he understood the elder's need for solitude, and he wouldn't change that part of Yifan for anything else in the world.

When it came to the others leaving, Yixing led one of the mothers to the spare room where they'd set her children down to have a nap when it was guessed they'd stay for longer than anticipated. Yixing managed to stifle a gasp, yet, the mother did not as they took in the sight of a large tiger curled up on the floor with a cluster of small lions sprawled out across his body and snuggled into his warm fur.

"I thought male tigers didn't like cubs?" The lioness asked, her shock widening her eyes in the darkened room.

"I always thought the same but Yifan's different," Yixing couldn't help his smile from aching his cheeks. "He'd make an incredible father."

The lioness stepped forward to lift her three cubs from Yifan's thick fur and jolted back in surprise when there was a sharp growl accompanied with bared teeth from the far larger tiger. She looked back to Yixing with panicked eyes and the lion didn't want to laugh at her but, he couldn't help himself.

"It's okay, you just startled him," he assured her, "he was protecting them. He won't hurt you."

Yifan's upper half curled around to lift the smaller creatures gently from his fur, the tiny lion cubs not even waking as he handed them up to the lioness who was still a figure cast in bold shock. Yixing melted when Yifan stood up, shaking his fur off and one of the cubs began to wake, whining and squirming in its mother's arms until Yifan approached it, chuffing. The Siberian tiger rose up slightly and placed an affectionate lick on the cub's ear until it calmed the tiny lion back to sleep.

"Oh my gosh," the lioness suddenly broke out into a smile as she lifted her cubs up to her nose, "he even managed to clean them. These three are a nightmare to wash in their cub forms and he managed it. Are you sure he's a tiger?"

"I'm rather certain," Yixing laughed out, Yifan stretching out then making his way back to Yixing's side with a gentle headbutt on his hip. The lion didn't take his eyes off the tiger as he spoke like he wasn't present in the room. "He's not what most expect, I wish people gave him more of a chance because he's so gentle and kind."

At the praise, purring filled the room and a wet lick was swiped on Yixing's hand in gratitude.

"I think a lot of people are simply a bit taken aback by the whole situation because you two _shouldn't_ be together and yet, you are. This is really rare. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, a lion only ever mates when it's serious and for a tiger to do so is ridiculously uncommon, so you two must love each other very much."

Yixing beamed as Yifan left the room, his claws clicking against the floor until they faded away down the hallway to their bedroom, the lion guessed.

"We've always known we were meant for each other," Yixing revealed, making the woman's shoulders settle as she shifted her small cubs around. "Mating anybody else wouldn't have ever made us happy, nor would it bring us the great things it has."

Without wanting to keep her children out of bed for much longer, the mother made her way to her apartment across the hall and Yixing couldn't stop radiating happiness as he stripped off at the foot of his bed, shifted into his lion form to climb up onto his bed with Yifan's tiger on his right. The elder turned his head to groom the younger's mane, causing Yixing to wriggle down the bed to give Yifan better access.

Yixing fell asleep soundly to the feeling of his mate's tongue on his fur and the warmth of acceptance in his stomach.

 

❉❉❉

 

Their third time trying to find somewhere to live brought them the fruits of success from Yifan's stretched out patience. It was a medium sized house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, however, the large garden that backed onto a forest was the biggest selling point. Especially when Yixing saw how Yifan's tail swished and his pupils dilated with joy when he noted the locked gate at the other end of the stretch of grass.

It was difficult to retain the excitement between them both when they looked around, nudging the other to share looks because everything was perfect for raising the family they silently pined for. Yifan's hand in Yixing's was so tight, his anticipation flowing out of him straight into Yixing and the lion couldn't help but feel his stomach liquefy as their tails wrapped around one another. Yixing was weak to Yifan's happiness and all the light flowing through the windows drifted in like that from a halo.

The hardwood flooring was perfect for when they were in their feline forms, Yixing could imagine Yifan rolling around in the garden, and the kitchen was a wonder on all its own. Everything was homely already, even when it was devoid of all furniture.

The realtor didn't have to try very hard to make a sale on the house, the couple were excitedly pointing things out on their own. From chrome faucets to the slight tint of red in the mahogany doors, everything was exactly like Yixing had envisioned for them years before. It was perfect for them.

Yifan's hands were shaking as they walked out to their car, they were silent when they sat down in their seats and buckled themselves in. The house was the tiniest bit out of their price range but when their eyes met across the centre console, their smiles said everything they wanted and needed to.

It was early the next morning when Yixing received a text from Yifan to say he'd contacted the estate agents and put in an offer. The lion couldn't stop smiling as he worked, barely keeping himself contained before pouncing on Yifan as soon as he caught sight of him and held him up tightly to his chest. A few days passed and Yixing was the one that was at home, Yifan being out for a prowl around in the forest, when the call came. All Yifan saw was that the lion was crying when he returned.

The tiger panicked, gathering Yixing in his arms and pushing for Yixing to tell him what was wrong whilst he tried to soothe the hysterical younger the best he could.

Yixing needed three attempts to finally say to Yifan that they had the house, their offer had been accepted and the tiger had held him so closely to his sternum when he'd managed to move past the initial surprise. They sat, wrapped around each other, on the kitchen floor for hours with wet eyes and their lips pressed together.

Their happiness could be felt everywhere around as the time passed slowly with the setting sun. They didn't have anything for the house but it was finally happening for them, they were having something of their own. It was their house. Their _home_.

 

❉❉❉

 

In comparison to the first time they had moved in together, it was almost exactly the same scene. Boxes were strewn everywhere, they both stood in shock in the entryway but the biggest difference was Yifan's smile. The tiger was ecstatic. There was no furniture, no overly personal touches and still, it was everything to them. The day driving between the house and the apartment had gone quickly with the last trip bringing their mattress, the largest thing they had—other than the house—to their names.

They carried the mattress up the stairs, bending awkwardly to get it around corners and into the bare master bedroom.

Yixing couldn't stop himself from twirling around the room, taking in the space and spreading the scent he shared with his mate through the air. His purring filled the detached house, mingling with the deeper tone of Yifan's and he only stopped spinning when Yifan caught him around the waist to press a kiss against his lips. The lion was giggling into Yifan's smiling mouth, both of them not speaking a single word as they wrapped their arms around the other's bodies.

With their tails entwined, everything was perfect. The night flooded into the room but their advanced eyesight meant it made no difference to daylight, allowing them to see every detail in the other's eyes. Yixing loved how amber Yifan's irises were and Yifan loved how Yixing's were that little bit lighter. There was nothing they wanted more than to let that moment of pure happiness swallow them up.

They separated to go down to the kitchen, ordering in food to eat before unpacking the things they would need for the morning. Everything in the bathroom was set-up, the mattress on the floor was made and they had a change of clothes to wear the next day. With the sun fully set, Yixing pulled Yifan by his shirt into the bedroom and he was sure the elder recognised the look in his eye.

Yifan's rumble of, "You're looking at me like you did when we were teenagers," made Yixing laugh out deeply in his throat.

"How's that?" Yixing raised an eyebrow, pulling Yifan's shirt off above his head and copying with his own.

"Like you want to ravage me like I'm some sort of prey."

Yixing laughed, "You wouldn't be wrong there, I definitely like the sound of doing that to you."

Yifan stepped away from the younger stripping himself off naked, crawling back onto the mattress and looking up at Yixing with his tail wrapped around his thigh in a way that Yixing had always found strangely arousing.

"Come on, Kitten, pounce then," the tiger goaded and Yixing could feel the growl in his chest long before it erupted into the room.

Copying his mate's actions, Yixing crawled over Yifan's naked body and using his tongue to caress Yifan's chest. Yixing loved how his mate tasted at the end of the day, his skin was coated in his scent and its potency had Yixing purring out so hard that he was sure it would get painful not too long after.

"Do you want to?" Yifan asked, the question was vague but it didn't need expanding for Yixing, he knew what it meant.

"Why don't you show me what tigers are made of?" Yixing teased and Yifan's feline eyes rolled in faux annoyance.

The tiger felt around on the floor, finding a small box Yixing had set out there and he pulled out a condom from its packet and Yixing took the slippery item from his mate. The lion moved down, leaving kisses and small bite marks in his wake, licking Yifan to hardness as the tiger's back arched up from the bed.

With the condom in his fingers, Yixing rolled it down over his mate's member and held in a groan when Yifan whined out over the momentary pleasure supplied by Yixing's hands. Yixing didn't self-lubricate like his female counterparts but he always did like it when Yifan covered his fingers in lubricant to smear around his entrance once he had crawled up his mate's body.

Yixing tilted himself down as Yifan made quick work with the lube to lick his way into his mate's mouth. Yixing liked having Yifan pinned, the lion relished in being able to have the larger one of them both completely at his whims. As much as he was excited by that, Yixing adored it when Yifan took care of him. The elder was never too much for Yixing to handle and he loved the way his mate pleasured him in the ways he liked.

Yixing wasn't impatient enough to impale himself on his mate but was simply teasing enough to grind himself on him instead, adoring the way Yifan's eyes fluttered shut at the pressure on his latex covered member. With a few more movements, Yixing had an arm behind himself to guide the head of Yifan's shaft to his entrance, once he was relaxed enough he began to press down onto Yifan's hips and smile when the tiger let out a growl so high pitched it filtered into Yixing's brain as something akin to a purr.

Yixing's hands were fisted tightly on Yifan's chest as he began to grind gently, adjusting to the feeling of having Yifan inside him and he pushed some of his weight onto his arms to lift upwards. The tiger's hands drifted down to his waist, taking some of the strain of Yixing onto himself and Yixing found the rise and fall less strenuous. It helped that Yifan pressed up to meet Yixing's pelvis, creating far more friction between them. With Yifan filling him thickly, Yixing couldn't help the mewled keens that left his mouth as his head fell backwards slightly.

It was a reminder that he should probably initiate intimacy with his mate in that way more often, enjoying having a full view of the tiger below him whenever his eyes fell downwards.

Yifan, when in the throes of sexual stimulation, was a sight to behold, for Yixing. His eyes were often closed, his lower lip fully bitten and his hands clenched tightly around whatever he was holding—which was, most often, Yixing—and the lion always preened into the grip. The lion knew he would never find another sight any more arousing than his mate crumbling because of their physical connection. Yixing knew he would never want another so much in his life.

He trusted Yifan, he'd give himself over to the elder if he ever requested so and there was a pang of something inside of him.

"Pull out," Yixing groaned and Yifan stopped moving instantly, doing as Yixing asked. He also released Yixing's hips, using his elbows to prop himself up on the mattress and the younger wanted to have that contact back. He wanted the connection.

Putting his powerful thighs to good work, Yixing rolled them over to have Yifan between his legs and the tiger looked down at him in slight surprise. However, Yifan used their new position to take Yixing's face in his hands and ran his thumbs across Yixing's cheeks.

"Why did you stop? Are you okay? Are you hurt, Kitten?"

"Could you take the condom off?" Yixing blinked up to his mate shyly and Yifan's mouth fell slack.

"You mean...?"

"We need to start trying one day. We have the house, we'll have the time to buy furniture and anything else we need... Only if you want it, though, Paws," Yixing's hands ran up Yifan's chest, through his hair and to his soft ears on top of his dark hair.

Yifan leant down to take Yixing's mouth in his, the stuttering of breaths from their previous actions flowed into the kiss and Yixing's hand found the base of the latex to pull it upwards and off his mate. He put it on one of the black bin liners they had taken to the room and placed next to the bed, all with Yifan's lips on his and hands rubbing on his mark.

"Please, Paws," Yixing whispered to his mate, "if you want this with me then please, Yifan. If you're ready, I'm ready."

Yifan kissed down Yixing's neck, sucking his mark enough to elicit a moan and a gentle buck of his hips. The tiger pulled back a little more, he nodded once as he leant over Yixing to pick up the bottle of lubricant again. He took a small amount into his palm and spread it between both his hands before taking hold of his member, rubbing the slightly warm fluid over it. Yixing relaxed into the mattress when Yifan lifted his parted legs onto his lap, twining their tails and holding Yixing's hips on top of his thighs so only the lion's upper shoulders were touching where his pillow met the mattress.

The younger had no way of holding his smile back when Yifan started to push into him, his member slipping into the lion with relative ease with the aid of the lubricant and Yifan rubbed Yixing's hips gently.

"Paws," Yixing called out, meeting Yifan's eyes, "I really want to have cubs with you."

Yixing could feel Yifan's purrs against his body like they were coming from inside of himself, causing himself to express his happiness in the same way. His attachment to his mate wasn't ephemeral, it was sempiternal.

With thrusting, Yifan was always deep and thorough in spurring pleasure from within Yixing but there was something drawn out in the way he was doing it that night. It was like he was savouring their union, their first lovemaking with the intentions of having cubs of their own, and Yixing couldn't help but stretch himself out before his mate so he could commit everything to memory. Yifan's lips were everywhere, over his chest, over his shoulders and over his face.

"You're so handsome, Kitten," Yifan groaned in Yixing's ear. His hands moved from Yixing's hips around to his stomach, rubbing over where, if they were lucky enough, a bump would form. The lion pushed his hips forward to arch his back, adoring the idea of Yifan touching over where their cubs would be. Yixing wanted to be rounded out with the children he would have with his mate, he was enticed by the idea of having a part of Yifan within him.

He pulled his mate closer, further towards his body and there he whispered into Yifan's ear about how he often dreamed of carrying the elder's cubs, of how he wanted them so badly and that creating life was the best way he could think of expressing love for them. Yixing could feel Yifan twitch inside him each time they spoke. The elder returned the sentiment by letting rumbles of appreciation leave his lips. The elder whispered back about how beautiful Yixing would look carrying the cubs.

With every compliment that dripped between the moans and into Yixing's blood stream, the telltale indicators of his imminent orgasm struck him. The pressure of Yifan's shaft inside of his body was moving in motions over his prostate that built pleasure up constantly, readying Yixing's body for an onslaught of pleasure he knew he would never grow familiar to. He clung to his mate, arms and legs wrapped around him as their bodies joined and Yifan was everywhere again. The world was spinning around Yixing's head.

He came with gentle intake of breath then a long drawn out moan as Yifan wrapped his hand around Yixing's twitching, ejaculating member to draw out the pleasure he felt all over his body. With his form twitching during the comedown, Yifan came into him with a warmth that Yixing hadn't ever felt. The lion bit his lip when he recognised how pleasant the feeling of having Yifan cum inside of him was.

When their breaths were caught, final kisses were given and they were laid out side by side. Yixing started to smile, a small laugh leaving his lips that Yifan mirrored, tightening his hand around Yixing's where he held it between them. Their delight lasted for a long cluster of moments before Yifan turned over to face him.

"We're going to have cubs, Kitten," Yifan all but squealed, taking Yixing in his arms and wrapping himself around him straight away. "I can't believe this is really happening. I love you so much."

Yixing couldn't either.

"I love you, too, Paws."

 

❉❉❉

 

It took a few weeks and a secretive doctor's appointment at a private clinic for Yixing to be sure. Between buying furniture and decorating the new house, he had felt a change in himself. He wasn't just searching for things to create a home with, he found himself bulk buying duvets, pillows and other soft furnishings. It baffled Yifan, seeing as Yixing had never been one for needless spending but it was a symptom. A clear and concise one. He was nesting; creating areas of safe comfort to do only one thing in. Give birth.

Yifan didn't notice, he merely assumed that he had mated somebody who liked having pillows on the bed for decoration, rather than considering the fact Yixing could have been nesting.

Their home was made perfect, everything was either an attractive shade of brown or a calming hue of blue, it suited them. However, Yixing couldn't ever feel happy with how the home looked because he constantly wanted to place pillows behind the bureau in the room they'd dubbed as the office. Yifan had caught him a few times trying to put a mass of blankets in the bottom of their wardrobe. Yixing had covered his intentions with an explanation that he was testing out the storage. But, he knew something was up.

The final sign for him to go to a doctor was when he began craving spicy foods. If there was one thing about both Yifan and Yixing, it was that neither of them could handle spice all too well. Yixing was better at it than Yifan, but that wasn't saying much given Yifan's lacking ability to consume anything more than white pepper without breaking out into a sweat. Yixing had found himself sneaking to the supermarket in his lunch break, buying a pack of fresh birds eye chillies and shoving them into his mouth three at a time. He couldn't take the spiciness yet his stomach seemed to feel satisfied. Another craving struck not too long after, his hands itching towards the chocolate bar he had bought to give to Yifan upon his return home.

He ate both, alternating between chunks of chocolate and whole chillies. He felt better afterwards, albeit a little sweaty but his body had stopped telling him he needed to eat those things.

It made Yixing nervous. He wished with all his heart that the signs were all pointing in the right direction. He could imagine Yifan's smile, so broad and gummy that Yixing's heart would explode into a thousand pieces, as he made the phone call with a doctor one of his old neighbours recommended to him. Yixing needed discretion if people weren't going to find out that he was suspected to be bearing cubs, he needed to be checked somewhere reliable. He couldn't risk being caught and maybe even ridiculed for being in such a state.

Even so, everything slipped away when he was with a doctor running some tests and answering questions. He half wished Yifan was there to experience it with him but he wanted to surprise his mate more than anything. Yixing wanted to the tiger to hear it from his own mouth, not through a doctor who continually shot him half-judging looks.

The journey home was nerve wracking, Yixing was glad he hadn't driven to work that day because he was sure he would have crashed the car before he made it onto their small driveway. The bus was crowded but Yixing managed to find a seat next to an old woman. He wondered how she would react if he told her what he had been doing that day, wondering if she would be scandalised or completely overjoyed for him. Yixing wasn't sure and he didn't want to test it, meaning that all he said to her was a polite ask to get past her at his stop.

Yifan was already home when Yixing arrived, the car was parked up and Yixing could smell the clean scent of the other faintly in the street. He couldn't have been home long. Yixing crept in through the front door and wasn't shocked to see Yifan concentrated on his phone and his tail swaying behind his back.

The lion approached him, wrapping his arms around the elder's waist and the tiger instantly adjusted to tuck him under his arm. Yixing read the article Yifan was looking at on his phone, trying to find the right words to say to tell his mate what he needed to know. Deciding that biting the bullet was better than nothing, Yixing pushed himself in front of his mate and took his face in his hands.

Yifan appeared startled by the action and that only made Yixing smile more.

"Paws," he opened and he was certain he heard Yifan's heart pick up in its pace, "I have something to tell you."

The elder's hands were on his waist within a blink, drawing Yixing in with the precaution of giving him comfort if he should need it, "What is it?"

"Have you thought about what colours the nursery should be?"

"Not yet," Yifan sighed out, deflating slightly. "Maybe I will soon, though."

"You might need to hurry up with that," Yixing hinted and Yifan frowned.

"Why? Are we having guests?"

Yixing pondered the question for a short moment. "Yes, a permanent guest."

"Kitten, I don't have any idea what you're talking about right now, have you invited somebody to live with us?"

"I don't know where else our cubs are going to live if it isn't here."

The penny didn't drop for Yifan until over a minute later and he froze up.

" _Our_ cubs?"

"Yes, ones that we've made," Yixing nodded and Yifan was lifting him off the floor in an instant.

The elder spun him around again and again until they both began to feel sick. Through the tears that were streaming down Yifan's cheeks, and subsequently Yixing's, the tiger was smiling like his face would split in half. He put Yixing down and crouched so he was eye level with the lion's stomach.

His hands pressed on the tender skin, his breaths came out like laughter and his eyes kept flicking back up to Yixing for approval. When Yixing nodded, his lip between his teeth and his vision blurred. Yifan lifted up his shirt and started to press kisses all over Yixing's still flat stomach. His hands held at the lion's hips, rubbing gentle circles into them and Yixing couldn't have asked for anything more.

"You're really not joking, are you?"

Yixing shook his head and brought out some of the printed test results he'd been given by the doctor and Yifan couldn't seem to contain himself as he held Yixing as close to his body as he could.

"I'm so happy," Yifan whispered into the crook of his neck, "thank you so much."

 

❉❉❉

 

 _"Why can male lions carry cubs?"_ Yifan had asked Yixing as an inquisitive and questioning seventeen-year-old. _"It doesn't make sense to me."_

_"I'm not exactly sure but I think it's to do with keeping the pride going without having to leave to find a mate. My dad said it's rare for it to be done and that even if it is, it tends to be a light maned lion and a dark one."_

_"That means you could be with one of those sandy coloured lions?"_ Yifan queried, looking up momentarily from his textbook.

_"I think so, the lighter one would carry the cubs. I'm seen as being too dominant for that."_

It was silent between them for a while and Yifan didn't look back down at his book as the minutes wore on. He was chewing his lip, a nervous habit, and the younger stopped doing his own studying to look at his best friend.

 _"What if we were to, you know, do_ it _?"_

Yixing had pondered over that thought for a while, attempting to dampen the excitement within himself at the idea of Yifan wanting that for him despite their differences. _  
_

_"I guess it depends on what we want,"_ Yixing had responded. _"If we were doing_ it _for cubs then I guess that could work. I've seen things in the news about cross breeds before."_

 _"Me too,"_ Yifan hummed. _"I guess I'm curious."  
_

_"Of what?"  
_

_"Everything about you."_

Yixing threw his pen at Yifan but didn't hold back his smile, especially when Yifan's hand hooked around the back of his neck to draw him in closer to place a few affectionate kisses on his lips. Yixing had a crush, it was more than puppy love, it was something different. As a sixteen-year-old, he hadn't quite understood it but as he grew, he knew it was a bond.

_"Would you ever want cubs?"_

_"Only with the person I couldn't love more, what about you?"_

Yixing's heart stopped in his chest when he heard Yifan whisper just loud enough, _"I think I could only have them with you."_

 

❉❉❉

 

Yixing's cravings hadn't quite subsided but Yifan had found a wonderful alternative for the lion to nibble on when they struck. Chilli chocolate had become a staple food in Yixing's diet. There was a bar in the bedside cabinet, next to the bathroom sink and then in every room the couple frequented in their home. Yifan would wake to the rustling of the metal foil and the sounds of delighted groans as Yixing finally got the taste of what he had wanted. The lion had also managed to fall asleep on Yifan's chest with a bar under his cheek, leading to it melting all over his face and the shirt Yifan had worn to sleep in.

Pregnancy hadn't been as bad as Yixing expected, he only received looks and the odd whisper as he began to show, and very few people had the confidence to do anything whilst Yifan was by his side. Their parents had been in shock, Yixing's mother had also even tried to recommend not having cubs at all, which had not gone down well between any of the other five people present for the grand baby reveal.

Things, however, turned slightly sour when Yixing's bump grew in a way that seemed never ending. One of their scans revealed that they were having two cubs, which wasn't unusual for a lion but Yifan had sat in shock as the heartbeats could be heard through the monitor. The general size of Yixing's bump meant that wearing his normal clothing was next to impossible.

Neither of them had quite thought about the fact that few male creatures carried babies, meaning there was little demand for paternity wear; it was all designed for women. It had left Yixing frustrated and angry in the bedroom he shared with his mate one morning.

Yifan was out for a run, the pregnancy had led to Yixing sleeping in for longer as his body grew more and more exhausted from carrying two cubs, meaning the tiger could have a few hours to stretch out then spend the entire day working or with his mate. Yixing had awoken earlier than he had been in the past few months and decided that he wanted to make an effort to look nice for his mate.

With a limited wardrobe, he pulled on jeans and shirts that were all too tight, impractical and generally uncomfortable as Yixing's body had begun to expand out. The clothing Yifan's mother had discovered from an online store with a very limited selection to choose from wasn't exactly what he wanted to be dressed in to impress his mate.

There wasn't any particular reason why Yixing had chosen that Sunday to look nice, it wasn't like Yifan had made him feel unattractive nor that the physical side of their relationship had been lacking. Especially since Yixing hadn't been only hankering for chillies and chocolate. There were certain cravings only his mate could sate. The only reason was that Yixing had _time_ to make an effort for Yifan.

His plan completely failed as the tiger walked into the bedroom to find Yixing sat amongst mountainous piles of clothes in nothing but his underwear, crying his eyes out and whining at himself to stop crying. When Yixing caught a sight of the elder, he was certain the tiger would instantly leave the room and was taken aback when Yifan made his way through the clothes on the floor to his side.

"What's wrong, Kitten?" Yifan's words were deep and mollifying while his thumbs wiped tears from Yixing's reddened eyes. "Why's it so messy?"

Yixing hiccupped then choked out another sob, "I don't want to talk about it."

"But you're upset, how can I make you happy again if I don't know what's wrong?"

"It's so stupid," Yixing yelled out, causing Yifan to move closer until he was crouched in front of the younger. "I don't know why I'm even crying."

"Okay, then let's start with some easy questions. Why are all your clothes out of the closet?" Yifan sat down, his legs crossed and his hands still holding Yixing's face to catch any more tears.

"I wanted to wear nice clothes but they don't fit! I have nothing to put on and all I want to do is wear nice but comfy things."

"I see, why do you want to dress nicely? It's only you and me here today for a lazy day, I'm going to be in a t-shirt and sweatpants, nothing extravagant." The words were supposed to be appeasing and yet all they did was make the lion pout.

"But you look amazing in everything, you're tall and handsome," Yixing whined, crawling towards his mate and clambering onto his lap. One of the tiger's hands went instinctively to the lion's stomach and the other arm went around his waist to help him stay upright with the strain of the bump on his back. "I'm always in three sets of clothes that aren't even nice but they're all I have because my belly is too big for anything else."

Yixing couldn't help but feel a tiny bit better with such close contact with his mate, which was only amplified by the fact he was next to naked with the tiger's large, warm hands brushing over his skin.

"Kitten, you look incredible whenever you wear anything," Yifan murmured, leaning in closer, "and whenever you don't."

"Now is not the time for flattery, Paws," Yixing huffed but his heart still beat a little faster at what his mate had spoken. "I still have nothing to wear."

"Wait," Yifan grumbled, suddenly shuffling to push himself up from the floor with the younger in his arms. Yixing clung to his mate's shoulders and only let go when he'd been placed in the centre of the bed. "You sit here and I'll be two seconds."

Yifan stepped away, despite Yixing's short whine and arms still reaching out for the elder, he moved to his wardrobe and Yixing watched the striped orange tail as his mate looked through some of his drawers. It wasn't too much longer before Yifan was returning, asking Yixing to raise his arms and pulling a thick sweater over the top of his head.

The smaller was welcomed into the warmth of the ridiculously large hoody, liking how it covered his hands and sat on his thighs, hiding the stretched skin of his bump. The material was gentle on his flesh, not scratching like others did and it didn't constrict him too much either.

A part of what helped was most likely also that the clothing smelt exactly like Yifan.

He was purring instantly, his body shifting to sit with his legs crossed and Yixing felt better than he had.

"You always look like such a little kitten in my clothes," Yifan cooed.

Yixing playfully hissed, his eyebrows furrowing but his throat only worked harder to purr, showing that he actually adored the comparison from the elder. Yifan smiled, he crawled across the bed to place a single hand behind Yixing's head and bring their faces together. Yifan's lips took Yixing's within his and the lion's arms moved immediately up around his neck to draw their bodies as close as his bump allowed. The tiger's tongue was warm and inviting as he licked its way through into Yixing's mouth, allowing the lion to welcome him in with a warm sigh.

When Yifan tried to pull away, Yixing's arms locked around his neck with a whimper in hopes of keeping Yifan near his body. He kissed him a few more times prior to the tiger prying his fingers off and escaping his grasp to crawl up the bed and dive his hand into his bedside cabinet.

Yixing was ready to voice a complaint about the distance between them until Yifan returned holding a large chilli chocolate bar in his hands. The food was taken instantaneously by the younger, his fingers tearing into the packaging and squealing out when he had the bare bar in his hands. He took a large bite, moaning as the tastes he always seemed to long for flooded onto his tongue.

He caught sight of himself in the mirror that covered one of the doors on their wardrobe. Yixing could suddenly see why Yifan liked calling him kitten, he really did look far smaller than he actually was. The sweater swamped him, even though he was fully rounded at the stomach, he nibbled on the chocolate bar like a hamster and he had Yifan sat at his side with the most loving of stares on his face.

A melting feeling dribbled through his body and into his stomach, spreading the sweetest and most addictive feeling to the very tips of his fingers and ends of his toes. It was magical. Yixing didn't know how his mate managed it but with a few kisses, a chocolate bar and some oversized clothes, he felt like the most loved being in the world.

 

❉❉❉

 

Winter hit with blustering winds and ice on the streets, everything was a shade of grey and shining with frost. Yixing used to hate winter, his kind thrived more in the heat, unlike Yifan's, and still, the world became like a snowglobe. Ice sat on every surface like glitter and crystals, he adored the winter world. Most notably, when it snowed.

Paw prints were imprinted in the white ground, one astonishingly large pair and two far smaller ones. Yixing followed them, tracing them around the garden until he saw the slightly wet outlines of feline feet on the hardwood. The lion heard Yifan's purrs from the back door he'd entered through. Yixing took his coat and shoes off, shirking off his winter clothes until he was in nothing but some dark jeans and a plain blue button up. His feet padded on the floor, taking him up the stairs and there he could see Yifan at the end of the corridor.

There were two large windows that spanned from the ceiling to the floor, looking in the direction of the setting sun and Yixing knew it was one of the warmest spots in the house in the evenings.

"Paws," Yixing greeted, moving onto his hands and knees to crawl towards his mate. The tiger looked over his shoulder, puffing air out of his nose in a tiger-like greeting, he rolled slightly to reveal two tiny cubs. Both were paler than Yifan whilst remaining far darker than Yixing and patterned with lion cub spots on their foreheads and stripes on their bodies.

Cubs didn't shift to be human until they were six months old, leaving them as two small balls of fluff for their parents to adore during every moment. They had their heads resting on one of Yifan's paws, their heads taking comfort in the fluffy tufts of hair between the pads. Yixing's heart melted at the sight of the napping duo, Xifeng took her looks from Yifan's tiger form and Yixing was certainly soft to her tigress-esque appearance. Jinhai, however, was more like Yixing and, even though he had tiger genes, would have a large mane like Yixing.

Jinhai was dreaming, his cheeks and paws twitching as Xifeng rested more peacefully. Yixing was in awe of the lives he'd created with Yifan and from the expression on Yifan's face, he could not believe he had both a mate and two beautiful cubs.

It was a soft moment, one shared between the two parents as they took in their children. As the two cubs began to wake, Yixing leant over Yifan to greet them, enjoying the throaty yells from the twins as they realised he was home with them. Yifan purred loudly, Yixing knew he was too and there was a high-pitched response from the smaller cats as well.

"Baba missed you," Yixing greeted, scratching their heads lovingly and they both licked at his hands, thawing the cold. "I hope you had a good day with your dad."

The tiger let out a noise of agreement and the cubs began to climb on top of him to get closer to Yixing, when the human had them in either hand, Yifan stood up from the floor. He made his way into the master bedroom and returned back as a human, dressed in comfort clothes and accepted Xifeng from Yixing when he passed her over. The cubs let themselves be carried down to the living area and placed down into a playpen where there were numerous toys for them to play with together.

Yifan took Yixing by his hips, to kiss his mark with an open mouth and nip gently at it. The action wasn't anything more than affectionate, causing loving feelings to ebb into Yixing's bloodstream paired with a sense of _finally_ in his mind. And, he felt himself relax, completely freely, for the first time in his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! Thank you for reading ♡


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